Eaten By The Tyrant I Raised

“Please ask him to eliminate her.
Erase her from this world.
Tell him that Lady Rida, the Countess, displeases you.”

He tempted in a low voice.

“Then, I shall do as you ask.”

Lorna knew it was not an empty promise.

Nabel’s voice was light, but never devoid of weight.

If she uttered a single word, Lady Rida, the Countess, would somehow be discovered as a lifeless body.

“……”

However, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Even in the Imperial Empire, there was a temple dedicated to the divine deities.

And there was no benefit in harming the sorceress who served the gods as she pleased.

Lady Rida, as Lorna remembered, regularly made donations to the temple.

The money she gave to the temple was surprisingly substantial, far beyond what one would expect from a mere countess.

There was no way they would neglect such a person in the temple.

Moreover, Lorna remembered the day when Nabel’s knights had mercilessly slain the inquisitors.

Even if Nabel had hidden her eyes and ears from that, Lorna could not remain unaware.

“……No, it can’t be done.”

Lorna spoke up.
Nabel tilted her head slightly.

“Why?”

“It was the same during the inquisitor incident.
Back then, you were in disguise, so there was a chance that your connection to the Imperial Empire wouldn’t be revealed.
But this time—”

“I told you not to worry about that.”

Nabel tilted her head slightly.
She was pondering whether she should talk to Lorna about the countess.

But that hesitation lasted only a brief moment.

“Countess Rida used to have frequent interactions with the temple, right?”

At Nabel’s abrupt question, Lorna nodded briefly.

“She made significant donations and often visited the temple.”

“That’s peculiar.
Even though she was a priestess of the temple, once she became the mistress of the noble family, she was expected to become a magician.”

That was an unwritten rule of the continent.

While the Tuna sect encouraged priests to marry, there was an unwritten rule that if a priest married and became part of the noble family, they would no longer remain in the temple.

It was to prevent the influence of noble families from spreading too far into the temple.

However, Lady Rida had casually disregarded that.
There might not have been open criticism, but it was unusual.

“If I tell you that I have investigated Lady Rida, would you be angry?”

Nabel asked.
Lorna looked into Nabel’s eyes.

As she seemed to widen her eyes slightly, Nabel smirked mischievously.

“Well, I’ve already investigated her.”

He briefly pressed his lower lip again, then whispered softly.

“Even if it displeases you, I’ve already caused an accident.
What should we do?”

At his small question, Lorna finally laughed.

“It doesn’t matter.”

The Countess Lydia’s feelings had long been hidden away.
From the start, Lin was the only one she held affection for.
And now, Lin would likely be peacefully asleep in the maid’s quarters outside this room.

“Fortunately,” murmured Nathaniel, his smile fading slightly.

“I heard that Lady Rida’s hobby is chess… So he regularly attends chess gatherings.
Not particularly intriguing information, I suppose,” Nathaniel remarked, scrutinizing Lorna’s expression.

“And the current Lady Rida apparently spent her entire life in the temple.
She knew nothing about chess until shortly before meeting Lord Rida.
Suddenly, she began learning chess and coincidentally started attending the chess gatherings during Lord Rida’s scheduled times,” Nathaniel explained.

“….?” Lorna faltered, sensing the implication behind his words.

“….Are you suggesting that Lady Rida deliberately came to our household?” Lorna questioned, halting abruptly.

What was she after? Lorna’s words hung in the air, interrupted by a pause.
The mention of “our household” felt as abrasive as chewing on sand.

“Yes, given the circumstances, it seems likely.
That’s why she acted this way as soon as she arrived,” Nathaniel replied, gently wiping away a tear from Lorna’s eye.

“She caused you pain.”

Nathaniel fell silent for a moment before continuing, “The temple Lady Rida belongs to is the Southern Continental Miltan River.
Perhaps Lady Rida, or rather, the Countess, had approached you with intentions related to you and your divine status.”

It is likely.
Nathaniel squinted his eyes.

“After the incident with the heretics’ intrusion into the temple was resolved, they immediately targeted you.
In fact, the inquisitors who were supposed to escort you during the funeral were impostors.”

“What?” Lorna’s eyes widened, and Nathaniel extended his open hand.

“The investigation is already over.
The fact that nobody remained suspicious from the beginning.
You know that necromancers who make bodies disappear before funerals are betrayers of the gods, don’t you?”

“….”

So, they were not inquisitors but heretics, in other words.
Lorna’s mouth gaped slightly.

“That’s why even if they knew my true identity, the Empire and the temple would never become enemies.
So, it’s alright to let the matter of the inquisitors rest.”

Nathaniel laughed.

“And there’s Lady Rida.
You just need to do as she wishes.
We can find evidence to prove she’s a heretic, so we can catch her somehow.”

“Ah…”

Lorna slightly parted her lips.

Within Navel’s words, Lady Rida Beauchamp was truly an insignificant person.

She wasn’t the one who tormented her at Beauchamp Manor.

Just another heretic.

“So tell me.
Honestly,” Navel whispered, asking again.

“I want revenge.”

To those who failed to recognize your worth.

Upon his words, Lorna recalled the past moments.

She remembered the woman who instilled fear and confined her to the corners of Beauchamp Manor.

“If only that didn’t exist, Lady Rida’s childhood would have been a little happier,” Navel whispered in a low voice.
Lorna slowly lifted her head.

It was a habitual surrender.

Killing people only brings harm to the empire.

Even if she secretly harmed Lady Rida…

It was the moment she was about to give up her desires again.
Navel grabbed her wrist.

“Lady, don’t make me a bad person.”

It was a melancholic whisper.

“Don’t sacrifice something else because of me.”

It was a voice that prevented her desires from being let go.

“Command me.
Tell me to punish her, the one who failed to recognize you and made you unhappy.
If that weighs on your true heart, I can do this too.
If killing troubles your delicate heart.”

He lightly touched Lorna’s chest and spoke.